Little Gem - French Quarter

The Bird Cage (formally Little Gem Jazz Club) truly showcases the diversity of the designers at Portales. Little Gem was the last of the untouched, Prohibition-era jazz clubs utilizing French New Orleans architecture. This traditional French colonial relic deserved to maintain its era aesthetics but was in dire need of a functionality update. The heart and soul of the project is the music so we made the stage the focus as an organizing element or control point. Just because the Southern climate is sultry year-round doesn’t mean passive cooling strategies can’t be integrated, rather than relying solely on huge air conditioning systems. Portales designers chose a more sustainable approach by creating vertical airflow when remodeling the interior. The system vertically pulls air from the ground floor windows to the second floor and exits through thermal chimney air vents, creating a continual breeze of fresh air throughout the building.

Design Process

Evolution 1

Early design sketches for concept and client review

Evolution 2

Initial 3D exploration model

Evolution 3

Second phase to aid in details and materials options

Evolution 4

Fully developed photorealistic 3D model

Portales is a full-service, turnkey architecture and design firm with offices in San Francisco, CA, Seattle, WA and San Jose del Cabo, Mexico. Our design agency offers architecture and design packages or our clients can choose our individual products based on their design needs. We have a construction division with years of experience in building abroad in mainland Mexico and the Baja.